SABL
by Madness King
Summary: The follow up to my one-shot, Sypher. Sypher Woods is a lone wolf. After losing almost everyone in his family, he's been traveling, searching for Grimm to hunt down and kill. Not only Grimm, but the White Fang as well, and the citizens of Vale begin to fear that after they are gone, he will come after them next. But after being taken against his will to Ozpin, how will he change?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, Madness King here with the new SABL story I promised. Now, I know I also promised to work on "Into Kingdom Hearts" and "Astral," but I just couldn't help myself. Since our internet went down AGAIN I had enough time and less distractions to actually work on my stories. But this, I was able to finish Chapters 1 and 2, and I'm already working on Chapter 3. So I hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Oh, and Chapter 2 gets a tad emotional, just fair warning. Without further ado, R&R, PM, and Enjoy!**

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A dark, peaceful night in the city of Vale, that's how it has been for countless generations. The citizens have nothing to fear, for they know they are protected by the Huntsmen and Huntresses. Humans with the power to slay the evil forces of the Grimm, Huntsmen and Huntresses use weapons combined with Dust, a powerful substance that contains "nature's wrath" as some would call it, to repel the dark forces and keep humanity alive.

But they forget so easily, that Huntsmen and Huntresses are just like any other man, woman, or child; they can be killed.

To one individual in particular, he witnessed this truth first-hand. A dark figure leaps across the rooftops, barely making a sound. He stops at the corner of a block, and surveys the street below. So far everything looks peaceful, but darkness is always close when such conditions are met.

Just as he thought, members of the White Fang, skulking in the alleyways. The White Fang were a group of Faunus - humanoids with animal traits and features such as the horns, ears, or tails of an animal - that were once peaceful, but eventually turned into a terrorist group. The figure on the rooftop didn't hate the Faunus, he was once friends with quite a few Faunus children, but the White Fang were mostly thugs now, and gave Faunus a bad reputation.

He observed the group as it came out of the shadows and sneaked their way towards the Dust shop around the corner. They shot open the door, aiming for the lock, and broke the door down. They were inside in a matter of seconds. The figure looked closer at the scene unfolding, and noticed there was a shopkeeper still inside. One of the White Fang held a pistol up to his face while he carefully took out crystals and placed them into a suitcase. On the side of the shop, he could see more White Fang, loading powdered Dust into canisters. He knew not to interfere, not yet. He had to wait for them to leave before he could make his move.

One of the White Fang, a grunt by the looks of him, stepped outside the door and kept watch. It was time. Using the night sky for cover, he easily leapt across the street and onto the roof of the building. His landing caused a slight thud, and the guard outside heard it. He stepped forward a little and called out, "Who's there?" He held up a pistol and began scanning the area. The figure climbed down into the alley they had come out of and looked towards one of the street lamps. The lamps were electric, mere child's play to manipulate.

He concentrated on a single light, and it soon flickered off. The other lights did so as well, and he watched as the grunt looked around frantically in the dark. The figure picked up a piece of asphalt, worn away from the street by weathering. It was a decent size, enough to cover his entire palm, and he let it fall to the ground. The White Fang grunt whirled around in the direction of the noise and fired two shots, easily missing their unknown target.

_'Obviously, he doesn't have night vision like most Faunus do.'_ The White Fang member moved closer to the alley, unable to see his adversary. The figure watched as he approached slowly, until he stopped only three feet in front of him when another member showed up.

"Hey, we heard gunfire. Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, I thought I-WHA!" The White Fang member didn't get to finish his sentence as he was suddenly pulled back into the dark alley way. The second member could hear the sounds of punches being traded, a few bones being broken as well, and heard a body slump to the ground against the brick wall. He quickly drew his weapon, a red serrated sword and scanned the area. He apparently didn't have night vision either, judging by the way he was frantically looking around. The grunt's breathing stopped short as he heard a long, metallic sound being drawn out, the sound of metal against metal.

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Inside the Dust shop, the leading member was keeping an eye on the store manager, a middle-aged man with very short brown hair. He heard gunfire outside a few minutes ago and sent one of the others to see what the problem was. "Where are they?" he asked to himself? "How long does it take to go outside, see what's the matter, then come back in and give a report?"

At that moment, the front right display window crashed open, the grunt that caused it smashing into a row of shelves with Dust crystals. The members of the White Fang stopped and turned their attention to their fallen comrade. The leader went over to his body and checked him over. He had deep cuts in his arms and torso, and he seemed to be barely conscious. "Everyone, get out there. I want to know what's going on. If you find anyone, don't hesitate to kill. Understand?"

The other grunts nodded and stopped collecting the dust. They drew their weapons, pistols and swords, and stepped outside of the store. The leader was the only one left who didn't have night-vision, all the others were a Faunus species that could see in the dark. He could only see a few feet outside thanks to the light from the store, but even so it wouldn't do him any good.

One of the grunts, out of four, went to the right and went out of visible range. There was the sound of two thuds, and two of the others decided to check it out. The lone grunt was looking around still, but yelled in surprise as an invisible force picked him up. The leader brought out his pistol, and pointed it outside. The two remaining grunts cautiously moved to where their comrade had been, and the third grunt was pulled back by the unknown force. The last grunt was now scared out of his wits, and tried to head back into the store.

"Stay outside!" The leader said, pointing the weapon at him. "I want you to stay out there, and find whoever or whatever is causing this. And you will stay out there until I say so. Do I make myself cl-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the grunt cried out as a white rope wrapped around his neck and pulled him back. The leader fired three shots into the darkness, and he could hear them hit their mark. A hand fell into the light, and a mask bounced into the light as well. He had shot his own grunt.

The leader was now scared. What could be causing all of this? The lights inside of the store began to flicker and eventually died out. Out of panic, the leader began firing random shots in the dark until he ran out of bullets. He looked around frantically, trying to find something, anything in the dark. He stopped as he heard the sound of footsteps slowly approaching from outside, along with the sound of metal being dragged across the ground. The leader looked straight into the darkness and saw two trails of sparks, barely illuminating a pair of shoes walking slowly towards him.

Knowing he was out of bullets in his clip, he frantically took out the clip and grabbed a new one. As he fiddled with it, he saw that whatever had been dragging across the ground had flicked up and was now covered in flames. They looked like swords, and they were brought up to reveal a male human face. The leader finally put the clip in but it was already to late.

The left hand sword moved, as if the figure were holding out his hand, and a white rope shot out and grabbed onto his hand. It twisted his hand down to the right when he pulled the trigger, making him miss. The rope moved up to his neck and began choking him, and the figure began walking closer. As soon as he was in arms reach, he released the leader's hand from the rope and used the sword in his right hand to cut it off. The leader could hardly scream due to the rope around his neck, and the figure pressed the sword against the stump, the flames sealing it to prevent him bleeding out.

The figure pulled him closer, and spoke in a rough and gravelly voice, "The White Fang will not attack this part of Vale again, or next time I will kill whoever leads that group," he pulled him closer, their faces barely half an inch apart, "and then I'll find and kill you. Understand?" The leader nodded, still unable to speak due to the rope around his neck. "Good," the figure said.

He tightened the rope more until the leader was knocked out cold. The white rope began to disappear, until the man slumped to the ground and the white rope was gone. He picked the man up, and he noticed the shopkeeper was coming out of his hiding place. The figure tossed all of the bodies, the only dead one at the bottom, into a pile and noticed a flash of light.

_'Damn,'_ the figure thought. He quickly jumped onto one of the buildings and climbed up to the roof. Looking down, he saw it was only one of the lamp posts coming back on. He sighed, and made his way across the rooftops again.

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***Author shudders* How was that for a first chapter. Bet you didn't think he'd be this ruthless, huh? And it's not even at the climax yet! I'll put Chapter 2 up shortly, just out of courtesy so you can read it. I promise you, it picks up in the third Chapter. So R&R, PM, and pleas be patient, I have enough troubles as it is.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, I said I'd post the second chapter soon. Just thought it would be on a Saturday. Aw, who cares! After reading chapter one you guys probably couldn't wait to see what happens next, right? Well, in this chapter it reverts to Teams RWBY and JNPR. Before I start rambling again, I'd like to say that this takes place after episode 8, but before the end of volume one. Also, I might have Sypher and-whoops, don't wan to give too much away. All I can say is, sometimes Sypher will be in the episodes, but mostly I'll have him doing his own thing on missions. Let's all hope for the best in volume 2 when it comes out! As always, R&R, PM, and Enjoy!**

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The heist from yesterday was all over the news. From what officials were able to gather, a group of White Fang members attempted to steal Dust from the shop but were thwarted by an unknown person. They questioned the man about the vigilante, who only said, "I could not see his face clearly, but to me it looked like the devil." It was on every news channel, radio station and newspaper. Many were saying that this was karma for the White Fang, but others said that this figure was a Faunus killer, starting with the more dangerous ones and leaving the defenseless ones for later. It was especially a huge topic at Beacon Academy.

Currently in their dorm room, three-quarters of Team RWBY were enjoying their day off. Ruby was tuning her weapon, Crescent Rose; after the fight against the Nevermore and Death Stalker, she figured her weapon could use one before it got too badly damaged.

Weiss was also cleaning her weapon, Myrtenaster. She was wiping the blade clean, making sure that it would be ready when she needed it next.

And Blake was reading one of her favorite books. She was totally immersed in the story; so much, in fact, that she jumped a little when Yang came barging in through the door with a newspaper in hand.

"Guys! You are not going to believe what happened last night!" She showed the cover of the newspaper to them and Weiss took it out of her hands.

"White Fang attempt robbery, thwarted by unknown vigilante?" Ruby dropped down from her bunk and looked at the newspaper.

"Members of the White Fang attempted to rob a Dust shop in midtown Vale around 10:30 last night," she read. "According to the shopkeeper, who was still there doing last minute inventory checks, said that there were approximately seven of the members. However, just as the heist began, their numbers began to get smaller as an unknown person began to pick them off one by one. He also says that this unknown person nearly killed the leader of the small group, using two swords that were on fire to cut off one of his hands and burn it shut."

Blake walked over and asked to see it. As she examined it, Yang said, "From what I heard, this isn't the first time. In the West, there have been reports of entire hordes of Grimm and groups of the White Fang turning up dead. Some of the White Fang live, though, but they eventually die from shock or blood loss."

"According to this," Blake said, "only three of the seven members died: one from multiple large cuts that caused too much blood loss, another that died from multiple bullet shots to the torso, and the leader who fell into a comatose state and died of shock after his hand was taken off."

"It almost makes you feel sorry for them," Yang said.

"_Almost_," Weiss said, stressing the word. "Even though no one deserves that kind of brutality, the White Fang are still terrorists."

Blake was about to say something when someone knocked on their door. Yang opened it and found Jaune and Pyrrha were on the other side. "Hey Jaune, Pyrrha, what's up?"

"Have you guys heard about last night?" Jaune asked, looking a little worried.

Blake showed them the newspaper and Pyrrha said, "We heard about it, too. There are many rumors concerning this unknown person."

"Obviously," Weiss said, "he's a vigilante, an anti-hero if you will."

"Not from what we've heard," Jaune said. "I heard from some of the teachers that this guy might be a rogue Huntsman." This worried them all, sending chills down their spines. "What's more, I heard from one of Velvet Scarlatina's friends that he's a Faunus Killer, that he's going after the White Fang and then the rest of the Faunus population after their gone."

"Isn't anyone doing anything about it?" Ruby asked, now seriously worried.

"That's actually why we came by," Pyrrha said. "Professor Ozpin wanted both of our teams to meet him in his office regarding this matter."

"We're still trying to persuade Nora to get out of bed," Jaune added. "Ren's trying to tempt her with some of her favorite things." They heard a scream come from Team JNPR's room, along with a crash.

"I think we better help him," Jaune said, "we'll meet you at Ozpin's office." Jaune and Pyrrha opened the door, and could see Nora on Ren's back, laughing, for a split second before the door closed. The members of Team RWBY were silent, as the sound of laughter, yelling, and the occasional crash sounded from the other room.

"Well," Yang said, breaking the silence between them, "shall we get going to Ozpin's office?" The others agreed and they walked out of their rooms, trying to ignore Jaune's yelling and Nora screaming. After they arrived at Professor Ozpin's office, they knocked on his door and waited for him to answer.

After a few minutes of waiting, no one had answered and Team JNPR arrived. Ren and Jaune looked tired, panting a little and looking ready to collapse. Pyrrha also looked a little worn out, but not as much as the boys. Nora, on the other hand, was bouncing with energy and smiling. When Blake asked what happened, Ren only replied, "Trust me, you do not want to know."

"Ah, here you all are." The two teams looked to where the voice came from and saw Professor Ozpin walking towards them, a cane in one hand and a scroll* in the other.

"Professor Ozpin, you wanted to see us?" Ruby asked.

"I did," Professor Ozpin said. "I trust you are all familiar with last night's incident." They nodded, and Ozpin continued, "Well, I want to assure you that these rumors of this man being a killer are far from the truth. However, that is not the matter I wanted to discuss. I want to send both of your teams to bring this man to me."

Both teams looked shocked, save for Nora, and they all burst into questions. Ozpin put the scroll he held into the crook of his arm and held up his hand, silencing them.

"I understand why you're all upset, but I know who this person is, and it is crucial that he be brought back alive. I can't trust many of the other teams with this, especially Team CRDL. You eight are, in my opinion, the best teams to handle this."

The two teams looked between themselves, and Ruby said, "I'm in."

Yang joined in too, "If Ruby goes, I go."

Jaune stepped forward, "I'm going too."

The others soon joined in, and Ozpin nodded with a slight smile. "Very well," he said, "tonight, both Teams RWBY and JNPR will be patrolling Vale. You have permission to engage, but you must bring him back alive, and preferably conscious. I will expect to see you all once you have him apprehended." Professor Ozpin moved past them, unlocked the door to his office, and went in.

"Okay, we now have our mission," Ruby said, "I say we head out around sundown and split into teams of two. We'll search the whole city, and when one of us finds him, we'll contact the others and take him on together."

As Ruby explained her plan the others nodded in agreement, even earning a small smile from Weiss. "Then it's settled," Yang said, giving Ruby a hard pat on the back, "we head out in...how long until sundown?"

"About seven, maybe eight hours," Blake said.

"Okay, then let's enjoy the rest of our day off, then head out!" Ruby said. They rushed back to their dorms, almost running into Glenda Goodwitch on the way. She looked at the two teams as they raced away from Professor Ozpin's office, where she was going. Suspecting something amiss, whether it was from the eight who passed by her or from Ozpin himself, she continued walking towards Ozpin's office.

She knocked on the door only once and Professor Ozpin opened it. "Ah, Glenda," he said, walking back into the office so she could enter, "perfect timing. What new information have you brought me?" She brought out her scroll and scrolled through the info. "This vigilante," she said, sending over some choice news articles and files, "is quite elusive, but I was able to find some information regarding the recent attack. I was also able to find this."

She sent over a photograph and Ozpin looked at it closely. The image was slightly out of focus, but it clearly depicted a male, wearing a dull green jacket, tan pants, and also two swords strapped to his back.

"This is him?" Ozpin asked, zooming in on the face.

"It's him," she replied, "Sypher Woods. The poor boy, lost almost his entire family." For once, Ozpin looked shocked.

"The entire Woods family?" He sighed, bringing his thumb and index finger up to the bridge of his nose, "I can't believe it."

"Not all of them sir," Glenda said, sending over two more files. "Two others survived: his mother, Janine, and his younger sister, Emily." Ozpin studied the files closely as Glenda continued, "His mother was hospitalized for the past ten years, but she's barely been able recover." Ozpin sighed as he looked at her picture, last taken around ten to eleven years. He imagined how she must look now, in her current state.

"As for his sister, she stayed by their mother's side every day."

"For the past ten years?" Ozpin asked again, this time worry and concern in his voice. Glenda had rarely heard that tone in his voice, causing her to hesitate, but nod in response.

"She even took to sleeping in the bed next to her mother's so that she never had to leave. She never left for anything, not even to get an education."

Ozpin shook his head, "How you and your family have managed to live, Sypher, I have no idea. But may the Lord give you strength." He said that quite loudly, and Ozpin turned in his chair, going back to the picture of Sypher.

He looked up at the security camera, which was used in case someone decided to break into his office and saw a flashing green light next to the lens. He stared at it for a few seconds until it turned red, back to its usual color.

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***-scrolls are the holo-tablet things that you see Glenda Goodwitch and Ozpin use. I just wanted to get that straight before anyone complains about it. And if you don't believe me, look up "Scrolls" in the RWBY wiki.**

**Okay, so now that the teams have been given their mission, in chapter three it is confrontation time! Also, sorry if I misspelled Pyrrha's name. R&R, PM, and hope you stick around for more.**


End file.
